No special equipment is required to make this gluten-free crusty savoury bread. If you have a wooden spoon, you’re set! If you don’t have a Dutch oven, don’t fret – any heavy pot with a tight fitting lid will work well. Just be sure that the knob on the lid is safe to 425°F.

Yields 2 one pound loaves

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (120 grams) brown rice flour
• 1 cup (130 grams) sorghum flour
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) potato starch
• 1 cup (110 grams) tapioca starch
• 1 Tablespoon (10 grams) xanthan gum
• 1 Tablespoon (12 grams) rapid rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons (10 grams) salt
• 1 1/2 cups (115 grams) shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 onion greens, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 teaspoon (7 grams) liquid honey
• 1 1/3 cup gluten-free beer, room temperature (I used Redbridge Beer, you can use water, it just won’t have quite the same flavour)
• 2 large room temperature eggs, slightly beaten
• 3 Tablespoons (14 grams) olive oil

 

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, rapid rise yeast, salt, cheese, and onion greens.
2. In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the honey, gluten-free beer, eggs, and olive oil.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir just until everything is evenly mixed.
4. Loosely cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and let it sit on the counter for 2 hours.
5. After the two hours, divide the dough into two*. You want to work gently, so that you do not break all the air bubbles that have just formed in the dough. Carefully place each ball of dough onto its own piece of parchment paper (about 14″x14″). Wet your hands with water, and smooth each ball of dough into a ball shape. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest on the counter for another 90 minutes.
6. 30 minutes before you are ready to bake your bread, preheat your oven to 425°F. Place two Dutch Ovens (or other heavy pot) into the hot oven, and let it heat for at least 15-20 minutes.
7. Using a serrated knife dipped in water, cut 3 or 4 slashes across the top of the loaf (optional, but gives it a nice look)
8. Remove the preheated Dutch Ovens from the oven, and carefully place the bread dough, on the parchment paper, into the Dutch Oven (one loaf per Dutch Oven). Be careful, the Dutch Ovens are very hot at this point.
9. Place the lids on the pots, and place the pots into the oven. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes. Remove the lids, and continue baking for another10-15 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the bread, using an instant read thermometer, is 205°F.
10. Remove bread from the Dutch Oven, and place on a cooling rack. Allow bread to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Store cooled bread in an airtight resealable bag.

*NOTE: If you only wish to bake one 1-pound loaf, leave half of the bread dough in the bowl, cover, and refrigerate. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 7 days. When you want to bake the second loaf, remove dough from fridge, gently place on a sheet of parchment paper, shaping and smoothing it with hands that have been wet with water. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest on the counter for 2 hours before baking. To bake the bread, follow the same instructions as if you were baking immediately.

Yields 6 buns

Ingredients:

• ½ cup warm water
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp granulated sugar or honey
• ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp brown rice flour
• ¼ cup sorghum flour
• ¼ cup potato starch
• ¼ cup ground flax seed
• 2 Tbsp tapioca starch
• 1 ½ tsp xanthan gum
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg white
• 2 Tbsp oil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, or until it gets nice and bubbly.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, ground flax seed, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, and salt.
3. Add the apple cider vinegar, egg, egg white and oil to the yeast mixture. Stir to break up the eggs.
4. With the mixer running on medium-low speed, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and mix for two minutes, scraping down the bowl if necessary.
5. Lightly grease six 4-inch pot pie tins* and place them on a baking sheet. Divide the dough between the six tins, with each tin having about ¼ cup dough. Using a spoon dipped in water, smooth the dough into an even layer across the bottom of the tin.
6. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20-30 minutes, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
7. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the buns have risen, place baking sheet with the tins on it into preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to remain in the tins for 5 minutes before removing buns to a wire cooling rack. Let cool before serving. Once they are cooled they can be stored in an air-tight container. Buns can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in a re-sealable bag in the freezer. That way you can remove the buns from the freezer as you need them.

*The tins I used are 4 3/8″ x 1 3/16″, they are labeled as “extra-deep pie plates”.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (see Note) OR 1 2/3 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch and 1/3 cup tapioca starch
• plus an additional 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 Tbsp rapid rise yeast
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 cup instant lemon (or vanilla) pudding mix (dry) OR dry milk powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• the zest of 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 a navel orange
•  4 Tbsp margarine
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp oil (I used Canola)

NOTE: 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.

Filling:

• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) cream cheese, very soft
• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, very soft
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• the zest of 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 an orange

NOTE: You may add 1/2 cup shredded coconut to the filling (optional).

Frosting:

• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) softened cream cheese
• 4 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
• 1/2 tsp orange zest (optional)

Directions:

1. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix all dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
3. Put 1/2 cup milk and margarine in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the margarine has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add 3/4 cup milk, stir. Add other wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
4. With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you have to.
5. Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
6. Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on a slightly damp counter top, so it covers an area bigger than 8″ x 16″. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Spray dough with baking spray. Gently lay another piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish shape. Lift and reposition the top plastic wrap whenever you need to. Roll the dough out (with the plastic wrap on top) to a square approximately 8″ x 16″.
7. Remove plastic wrap.
8. Carefully spread 4 ounces of softened cream cheese over the dough. Mix 2 Tbsp softened butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and lemon and orange zest together. Sprinkle over the cream cheese. Spread filling mixture evenly across dough’s surface. Leave 1 1/2″ along one long end without any filling, this is where your rolls will be sealed.
9. Starting along the long end, use the bottom sheet of plastic wrap to lift the edge of the dough and roll it up, forming a long cylinder. Start with the edge that has filling on it, that will be the center of your finished rolls.
10. Using a long piece of dark thread (light colours can be lost in the dough), cut the long “log” into 8 pieces, about 1 1/2″ wide. You can do this by placing the thread underneath the roll, crossing it at the top, and pulling the threads so they cross each other, pulling it through the dough. This way, you won’t be squishing your dough down by cutting with a knife. Place rolls in prepared pan, with cut side up. I like to push the rolls down to about 1″ high.
11. Allow the Paska rolls to rise in a warm, draft free place for about 30 minutes, or until nearly double in size.
12. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are a nice golden brown.
13. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before topping with the cream cheese frosting. To make the frosting, beat the softened cream cheese, butter, confections’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
14. These are best served warm, however, I had great success with reheating them in the microwave for a few seconds when they were a day old as well.

 

Some tips for dairy free:

• REPLACE the instant lemon pudding powder with 1/4 cup almond flour (ground almond meal)
• REPLACE the milk with soy milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
• REPLACE all of the butter/margarine with vegan butter (for example, Earth Balance)
• REPLACE the cream cheese with vegan cream cheese

Chewy Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Makes two 14-inch crusts

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (see note) OR 1 2/3 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, and 1/3 cup tapioca starch
• 1 Tbsp xanthan gum
• 1 Tbsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup dry milk powder (optional, can be omitted without a problem)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

NOTE: 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.

Directions:

• Place the flour, xanthan gum, yeast, salt, sugar and dry milk powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Run the machine just to combine the dry ingredients.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg, egg white, water and apple cider vinegar.
• With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix for 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
• With a rubber spatula, divide the dough between pizza pans lined parchment paper. Dip your spatula in water and smooth the dough out into a 14-inch circle.
• Place dough in a warm, draft free place and let rise for about 30 minutes, or until it is starting to look puffy. Poke the crust with the tines of a fork so that it will not puff up when baking.
• Bake in preheated 425° oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with your desired toppings (at this point, before you top the pizza, you can remove you partially baked crust from the parchment paper and place it directly on your pizza pan, if you wish). Return to oven and continue baking another 10-15 minutes, or until your toppings are hot and bubbly and the cheese is just starting to brown.
• Remove the pizza from oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before slicing. This helps the cheese and toppings to stay on the pizza instead of sliding off when you cut it.

Philly Cheese Steak Pizza

Toppings for one 14-inch pizza

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, sliced thinly (if you like onions, feel free to add more)
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp gluten-free Worcestershire sauce (note, Lea & Perrins is gluten-free in the U.S., but not in Canada)
• 3 Tbsp gluten-free steak sauce (I used Hp steak sauce, my family’s favorite)
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 3-4 ounces (about 100 grams) shaved roast beef (from the deli)
• 5-6 slices of Provolone cheese

Directions:

• In a large frying pan, over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onions, green pepper, sugar, salt, ground pepper, oregano, minced garlic and Worcestershire sauce. Sauté over low medium heat until the onions are a nice, caramelized brown. Remove from heat.
• Top the partially baked pizza crust with the steak sauce, followed by the Mozzarella cheese, onions & pepper mixture, shaved roast beef, and finally the Provolone cheese.
• Return pizza to over and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheeses are bubbling and just starting to brown.
• Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (see note)
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 Tbsp rapid rise yeast
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry); OR 1/4 cup dry milk powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
•  4 Tbsp margarine
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp oil (I used Canola)
• 1 tsp vanilla

NOTE: 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.

Filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, very soft
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Egg Wash (optional):

• 1 egg white
• 1 Tbsp water

Icing:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 Tbsp milk, to reach desired consistency
• purple, yellow and green food colouring, optional

 

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix all dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
2. Put water and margarine in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the margarine has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add other wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
3. With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you have to.
4. Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
5. Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on a slightly damp counter top, so it covers an area bigger than 8″ x 16″. Sprinkle about 2 Tbsp of granulated sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Gently lay another piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish shape. Lift and reposition the top plastic wrap whenever you need to. Roll the dough out (with the plastic wrap on top) to a square approximately 10″ x 18″. If you find the dough too sticky, you can spray the top of it with a little bit of oil. I found that helped quite a bit. Remove the plastic wrap.
6. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the very soft cream cheese, the brown sugar and the cinnamon. Mix until well blended.
7. Using an offset spatula, or the back of a spoon, carefully spread the filling mixture evenly across dough’s surface. Leave 1 1/2″ along one long end without any filling, this is where your dough will be sealed. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the cream cheese mixture.
8. Starting along the long end, use the bottom sheet of plastic wrap to lift the edge of the dough and roll it up, forming a long cylinder. Start with the edge that has filling on it, that will be the center of your cake.
9. Roll the plastic wrap UNDER, so that you end up with a thin strip of plastic wrap just under the dough. Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper, and place it right beside your rolled up dough. Carefully bring the ends of the plastic wrap up and lift the dough onto the baking sheet, placing the roll on its side, so the plastic wrap is now on the outside of the roll. Using the plastic wrap, form the rolled up dough into a circle, so that the ends meet. The dough will be very soft, and can not be moved much, so work carefully.
10. Beat together the egg white and water. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the King Cake with the egg. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 30-40 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size.
11. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 30-35 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
13. Using two large spatulas (or turners), carefully lift the King Cake from the baking pan, and place it on a wire cooling rack set over a baking sheet.
14. Mix all icing ingredients together until smooth. Divide the icing between 3 bowls, and colour each bowl a different colour; one green, one yellow and one purple. You can leave the icing white, and sprinkle the roll with coloured sugar, but I decided to colour the icing so that you did not have a crunchy texture from the sugar.
15. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing onto the King Cake in stripes. Let the cake sit another 10 minutes, then using the large spatulas again, transfer the cake to a serving tray.
16. This cake is delicious served warm, but is also wonderful the next two days, especially if you reheat it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Be sure to store leftovers in an airtight container.